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Residential Construction

Building a New House? Consider your options!

If you are like most people building a new house, you want everything in it to be perfect. You’ll spend time selecting carpeting, cabinetry, plumbing and electrical fixtures, but that’s where you’ll stop. Most people don’t consider their living environment or realize it can be customized. They leave their comfort in the hands of the builder, who quite often picks the cheapest system to keep the cost down. In the past, customers had few options. Their choices were mostly upgrading to a 90% furnace or adding an air conditioner or a humidifier. Now the choices are many and can greatly improve your comfort in your new home.

A two-speed furnace can work to improve your efficiency and comfort by circulating the air in your home and passing it through the air filter more, thus keeping the air cleaner. A variable speed furnace not only improves the gas efficiency even more, but also dramatically decreases the electricity used by the furnace. You may know a humidifier adds moisture to the dry winter air and is controlled by a humidistat, but did you know that using a thermidistat with your air conditioner and a variable speed furnace will actually improve the dehumidification by the air conditioner. A thermidistat is a combination programmable thermostat and humidistat. It will sense the humidity level and if necessary, decrease the fan speed to allow the air conditioner to withdraw more moisture. Couple these options with a zoning system, which allows just certain areas of your home to receive the necessary heating or cooling, and your home can be exactly as comfortable as you wish.

In addition to your forced air heating system you could add in-floor radiant heat and there is no better time to install it than when your home is being built. Generally, areas up to 2000 sq. ft. can be heated by only using your water heater. The most popular area is your basement floor, even if you don � �t plan to finish it right away. However, it can also be installed under the surface of your main living area without damage to hardwood flooring.

Don’t forget about your air conditioner either. Find out what refrigerant it uses. Does it use the old R22 Freon that is close to having production stopped or is it using Puron?

A popular choice in homes is a sunroom. Occasionally sunrooms create their own unique problems. Depending on location and number of windows, these rooms generally have a higher heat loss or gain and it may not be possible to install an adequate amount of ductwork to heat and cool the room. An excellent option would be a ductless split system. This unit is quiet, efficient and need only be operated when the room is occupied.

As the last step to building your dream home have your duct work cleaned. During construction the furnace blower is used. Because of this, your furnace and ductwork have construction debris and dust in them. Why have the dust constantly circulated throughout your new home? Also, the excessive dust can lead to premature failure of some of the equipment components.

Finally, if you’re confused about all these options, visit our fully functional showroom. Rather than looking at a picture or seeing equipment sitting on a floor, you can come in and see, hear and feel the difference this equipment can make in your comfort for years to come. Please call to make an appointment and our trained consultants can demonstrate and quote an exact system for you. Our phone number is 458-7304.

Our showroom is open Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or schedule an evening visit. Our address is 1140 Ionia NW (1 block south of Leonard) or call (616) 458-7304.

	Serving the Greater Grand Rapids Area